Kansas one of handful of states that require work for food stamps

Saturday

Feb 1, 2014 at 12:01 AM

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By Amy Bickel The HutchinsonNews

Mark figures it is time to move on.

The bearded man sat at a table eating chicken and noodles,welcoming a warm meal on such a cold day. He doesn't have the money to pay hisheating bills, or his rent for that matter - bumming electricity off hisneighbor to run a heater while spending recent chilly days under a pile ofblankets.

Mark, too humiliated to tell his last name, had been receiving$189 in food stamps since he lost his job 1 1/2 years ago - something he sayswas no one's fault but his own. But in early January, his food assistance wascut off - the same month he received his eviction notice.

The problem, he says, is he can't find another job - or, atleast, one he is willing to take.

"I don't think anyone wants to jump headlong into the system," hesaid, but added that the government money he received for groceries "did help."

Across KansasJan. 1, more than 20,000 able-bodied residents lost their food stamp provisionsunder a new state policy Republicans are hoping to implement nationwide,according to the Kansas Department of Children and Families.

It's all part of an effort to crack down on food stamp spendingunder the Brownback administration. In the past year, state officials haveramped up efforts to curb fraud. In addition, last fall, DCF decided to dropits participation in a federal grant program designed to help poor people applyfor food-stamp benefits - sending more $70,000 administered by five Kansas agencies, back to Washington.

The most recent change on those on food stamps, however, camewhen the state reinstated work requirements for recipients between 18 and 50who are able-bodied and have no dependant children.

The federal government requires adults capable of work who haveno children in their home to receive food assistance for only three months outof 36 if they don't have jobs or have signed up for schooling, said DCFBenefits Director Sandra Kimmons.

States, however, can waive this requirement during times of highunemployment, she said. Most states did so as part of the 2009 stimulus packageand have been allowed to keep using the waiver as long as they meet certaincriteria.

On Oct. 1, Kansaslet the waiver lapse, thus joining a handful of states that didn't waive thework requirement.

For the 20,000 Kansans affected, such as Mark, their food stampbenefits ended Jan. 1.

Republicans, including Kansas Rep. Tim Huelskamp, blame part ofthe increasing cost of food stamps on the more lenient enrollment standards.The food stamp program, officially called the Supplemental Nutrition andAssistance Program, or SNAP, grew to more than $76 billion in 2013 - a 52percent climb since the waiver was implemented four years earlier during therecession.

"The program is in desperate need of reform and yet this billmakes only nominal changes," Huelskamp said after voting against the currentHouse farm bill proposal Wednesday. "Instead of status quo in this the fastestgrowing welfare program in the entire government, we should have taken theopportunity to provide meaningful work reform requirements, especially forable-bodied adults, as we passed in the U.S. House."

But Huelskamp also stated the economy hasn't improved much underthe Obama Administration. He quoted that 24.1 million Americans are searchingfor work.

Hutchinsonresident Rebecca Call is one of the millions looking for employment. Call, whowas receiving $189 a month in food stamps while trying to pick up as many extrahours as she could from her part-time, minimum-waged job at Dillons, also wasone of the many whose benefits disappeared in January when here income roseabove the SNAP guidelines.

Call, whose life story is complex, still is food insecure. She essentiallylost her job a few weeks later after customer complaints and Call, who isbipolar, decided leaving would make it easier on everyone. Now she is livingoff her fiance's $189 a month in food stamps - which also supports his twoyoung children when he has visitation.

A recovering drug addict who has been clean a year, Call tries tohide her worry. Yet, when she was trying to make ends meet on minimum wage -$7.25 an hour - it didn't seem to put her ahead, she said.

"You have to work 20 hours to get food stamps, but I'll eithermake too much money or I won't make enough," she said, later adding, "You'redamned if you do, damned if you don't. Who can survive on that?"

While her financial situation is tough right now, she won'treapply for food stamps. She is optimistic that she will find work.

Mark, meanwhile, the nameless man who wants to get out of Hutchinson, doesn't seemtoo worried about his situation. He has good friends and neighbors who havehelped him out.

Yet, there really is nothing for him in Hutchinson, he said. He stayed in town afterhe served a five-year prison sentence for aggravated robbery. For eight years,he worked a laboring job, but his mouth got him into trouble.

So, on this cold day, he began searching out a charitableorganization that could help him get a train ticket out of town.

"I want to move back to Kansas City where my mom lives," he said. "Or, maybe, to Colorado with mybrother, he's a computer guy. I heard there might be places that are hiring."

But his ticket, which he secured with Hutchinson Catholic charitySt. Vincent de Paul, a society with a mission to help those in need, hasn'tbeen picked up.